One of the joys of living in South Florida is having flowers in our yard year around. Down our way pipes may not freeze, but they do still break.
We recently had a plumbing problem at home. During the past week our plumber has done a moderate amount of digging in our front yard. The trench had to go through our Ficus hedge and Charlyne's flower bed. The plumber easily removed the Impatiens flowers we had planted only a few weeks ago. When he got to the hedge, he dug and dug to cut through all the roots of the one plant that stood in the way. Today that plant is sitting in a bucket, waiting to go back into the ground where it will once again become part of our hedge.
Can you see an application to your marriage and to that "other person" through our plumbing problems? You are the Ficus plant with roots going deep through marriage. That other person is like one of the little plants that so easily pops out of the ground because they have such shallow roots.
Each winter Charlyne has Impatiens planted in our yard. We all know that when the hot days of summer come those plans will be gone. Right now it is the colorful Impatiens that seem to be getting all the attention, but when thing heat up, it will be the well rooted Ficus that survive.
That other person in your spouse's life may be their Impatiens right now, but if you do not become impatient with all that is happening, there will come a day when your well rooted marriage, like the Ficus, will survive.
Today you may feel like our lone Ficus bush, sitting in a bucket, off by itself. But remember, there is a mighty big hole in our hedge where that plants belongs, just as there is a mighty big hole in the home where you belong. May you bloom where God has you planted right now, until His work is completed and you and your spouse are both replanted at home.
